Knighthood for Al Qaeda: Profile of 'Sir' Iqbal Sacranie- Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain

Knighthood For Sacranie: Brief Profile

Mon 13 Jun 2005

The Muslim Council of Britain is delighted by the news that our Secretary-General, Iqbal Sacranie, has been awarded a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Brief Profile:

Iqbal AKM Sacranie has been actively involved in voluntary capacity with community and charitable work for the last thirty-five years in the UK (local and national) and overseas at international level. His main interest has been to ensure that faith and ethnic communities are treated fairly, equally and justly and given due recognition of their contribution to the society.

A businessman, born in Malawi arrived in the United Kingdom for further studies in 1969. He is a Fellow of Institute of Financial Accountants and an Associate of Institute of Administrative Management.

He was re elected the Secretary General of The Muslim Council of Britain, a national umbrella and representative body of British Muslims in 2004. He was the founding Secretary General when the MCB was established in 1997.

He Chairs the Board of Trustees of Memon Association UK. He led the Committee in raising £1.2 million pounds primarily from the Memon and Muslim community to build a unique Sports and Community Centre in South London. HRH Prince of Wales officially opened it in February 2001. All communities in London use the Memon Centre. He inspired the community to donate and be self-reliant and not to be dependent on government and institutional support.

He was elected Deputy President of World Memon Organisation (WMO) in 2002, which is an umbrella body of Memon organisations from different parts of the world. The WMO carries out charitable work for the upliftment of its community in number of countries particularly in India and Pakistan.

He Chairs the Board of Trustees of Balham Mosque and Tooting Islamic Centre. Also chairs the Al-Rissala Education Trust, which runs independent primary and secondary schools.

He was appointed Vice President of Family Welfare Association, a national charity in the UK that focuses on helping suffering children around the world. He is a trustee of Muslim Aid an international relief agency serving in more then 45 countries.

Iqbal is a Patron of Abdulla Quillam Society in Liverpool, Chairs the MCB Charitable Foundation and is a member of Home Office Race and Equality Advisory Panel. He has served on the Advisory Council of the previous four Home Secretary's advising the government on matters relating to equality and race relations.

Iqbal has over the years served on number of other charitable and community organisations including British Heart Foundation, National Co-ordinating Committee of European Year Against Racism, National Consultation on Chaplaincy, Interfaith Network, Coroners Review Group and the Prince's Trust.

Prime Minister Tony Blair awarded him OBE in 1999 Honours List and a recipient of Muslim News Award for Excellence - Good Citizenship. He was awarded a plaque for Commitment and Dedication to Community work by Memon Association UK, which was presented by HRH Prince of Wales in 2001. In March 2005 he was presented with the Life Time Achievement Award for community work presented by the World Memon Organisation in Bombay, India.

In 1999 the Observer magazine produced a Power List of 300 most powerful people and he was numbered at 246. The Guardian newspaper named him in 2002 as ‘The most influential Muslim in the UK'. In 2005 the GQ magazine produced a list of 100 Most Powerful Men in Britain and he was ranked at number 10 as the voice of Muslims in Britain, who plays a vital role as mediator in multi-cultural Britain.

The following are comments:

Congratulations. Recognition so well deserved. Keep up the good work. Best Wishes. Dr. Hasanat Husain MBE Dr. Hasanat Husain MBE

Congratulations on receiving the Knighthood. I truly hope that you can help the new generation to understand what Islam is all about through insuring their are good Islamic Schools which can cater for the needs of the Muslim population especially those who cannot afford a private education. Please could you see that the government supports Muslim schools financially just as the Jewish schools are dependent on Government help. Thank you. Maryam ArifMaryam Arif

I think this knighthood is well appointed. I agree that education is the key to integration. I hope Sir Iqbal Sacranie will urge the government to set up schools of excellence in the Muslim faith so that British born Muslims need no more to travel abroad to study.Janet

I know Mr Sacranie for long time ago. I used to come to see me in the Pakistan High commission when I used to work there. In spite lot of ups and down it is difficult to find such a nice person like Mr Sacranie. Even those early days I am talking about in 70's he was a light for the Muslim and needy. I admire him and pray to God for him to continue leading the Muslims in this country.Shafique A Choudhary

It is very easy to criticise from the sideline that the MCB is a joke, and they don't represent the whole Muslim population. It is up to all of us to work together to change the MCB or influence it in how it runs and make the MCB represent our views or alternatively form an organisation that does. The work that the MCB is currently involved in such as pressuring government for the religious hatred bill and others, are very important not just for our safety but also for our self-respect as a community to be treated equally as Jews, Sikhs and Christians. We need to see the value of working for these things as naturally it has far reaching implications. This is the very reason why we say ‘they the British government', because we don't have a sense belonging here, no, it is our British government, we are British subjects, we pay tax to keep it running, what are we doing for them to work for us, how are we influencing their decisions, and judgement. You will find these same people saying don't get involved with the mainstream politics of this country, or politics is haram. The point is lets refrain from criticising from the sidelines and lets all ‘get involved' in shaping our future. Receiving a knighthood now is more about recognition of the work one has accomplished, but I would take the knighthood just to be called Sir by my enemies, meaning it makes their argument just that little bit weaker against me Anwar Ali

I think this is a real organisation that lives in the real world and is sincerely concerned about the welfare of the Muslims in Britain and over seas. It is a great shame that some Muslims only look at the face value of things and do not take the notice of the implication of certain actions or awards such as the Knighthood received by the Sectary General. I am definitely not going to go into explaining it either on this short comment, but one simple word ‘education ' its importance is yet not fully understood by the few members of our community. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Sir Iqbal and members of the MCB on behalf of Saracens High Lobby (SHL) for their great work and achievements.Abul Hussain

What real difference had the MCB made to the Muslim community? Getting honours do not built the lives of the real people. They see no change. Please think about the issues facing our young people, they are our future but they see nothing from their leaders other than their pictures with ministers etc. Our Muslim Leaders need to act otherwise the next generation will not have any faith and do their own things. srkpatel

Dear Brother Sir Iqbal, I am exceedingly delighted and proud that you have been knighted by Her Majesty the Queen. Many congratulations Praise be to Allah Warmest Regards Anis Rahman JP, Barrister Race Equality Advisory Panel for Home Secretary Anis Rahman

Firstly may I congratulate Iqbal Sacramie on his Knighthood. I had the pleasure of hearing him at the launch of the Islam pack for schools in Stockport. I was there as a governor of North Cheshire Jewish Primary School and we will be using the pack to teach about Islam. I hope Muslim children will get the chance to be taught about Judaism. I have to say I find what some of the Muslim children are taught in schools and on TV in the Middle East really disturbs and upsets me, as we both must create a new generation who are not taught to hate.Joy Wolfe

Well deserved and truly an honour for all that MCB stands for. God bless and sustain you all ... Rashid AliRashid Laher

Assalaamualaikum Heartiest congratulations to Iqbal Sacranie on a well deserved Knighthood. He has served as an ideal role model for professional muslims. Most outstanding of his values is a deep commitment to bringing various faiths and communities together and live in peace and harmony. His polite and pleasant personality adds to his charitable activities. A knight in shining armour -we are all proud of his achievements.Professor Alimuddin Zumla

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MIM: According to his profile 'Sir' Iqbal was awarded a plaque for his work at the Memon Association in the UK. The associations ambiguous purpose as an all round 'help' organisations for 'people suffering from hardship" should be translated to mean that it is a terror funding front. This distinct possibility is further born out by the fact that the domain is registered to non other then MCB finance and economics chairman Iqbal Sacranie, a known Al Qaeda operative who worked with the Movement for Islamic reform run by Saad Al Fagih which was declared a terrorist entity and funding front for Al Qaeda, Bin Laden and the Taliban.

The Memon Association UK has grown since its formation in the early seventies from a body with modest activities such as the observance of a few religious functions, to an association that now cultivates and promotes an ever-widening involvement in Muslim and community issues on a much wider scale.

The Memon community sees itself as having such a primary identity with shared interests, relations and values over a wide spectrum. Like the universal Muslim community of which it is a part, the Memon community is a community based on faith. Indeed, the word 'Memon' comes from the Arabic 'Mu'min', meaning 'believer' and which was given to our forbears who first converted to Islam.

It is a matter of privilege and honour that the Memon community has been in the forefront whenever there is a call for help whether from relief organisations or from individuals suffering hardship. It is part of its history that they are closely linked with providers of humanitarian assistance. Compassion, generosity, self-help and integrity are on the list of priorities for the Memon Association.

The Memon Centre, will continue to be of tremendous benefit to the local community, particularly the youth and women, as well as to the larger community in the UK. It is a focal point for visitors from overseas who are in need of information and advice on health, business, social contracts and other matters. It remains the Association's aim to promote contacts and work closely with organisations and institutions having similar aims and objectives both in the UK and overseas.